Black Bean Gingerbread Cookies And Festive Fruit Salad

MAKE ONE OR THE OTHER, OR COMBINE THE TWO.

BLACK BEAN GINGERBREAD COOKIES:

We all want to enjoy the festivities without ruining our health completely. With this in mind, I have put together a few options for desserts made with healthier ingredients. Enjoy in moderation. (natural sugar content is high) These are great to take along with you when you are asked to bring a pud for a braai, or a snack for a picnic.

BEST FOR: CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAYS!
MAKES: 24 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 cups cooked/canned black beans, drained
• 0.5 cup finely ground oats/ oat flour
• 0.25 cup melted coconut oil
• 0.5 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch ground cloves
• pinch salt
• tsp vanilla essence or powder
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 0.5 tsp baking soda (bicarb)

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UTENSILS:

• Mixing bowl
• Blender
• Measuring spoons
• Baking pan
• Baking paper

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 180’C and line a 22cm baking dish with baking paper.
• Mix your beans,flour, oil, coconut sugar, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, vanilla, honey and vinegar in a bowl and blend until smooth with a stick blender or in a mixer.
• Pour the mixture into the baking dish and pop it in the oven to bake for about 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
• Cut into bars or shapes that you would like

TO SERVE:

• Serve plain if you like.. or mix 4 Tbsp smooth cottage cheese with a tsp honey and a tsp coconut flour/tapioca flour and spread on the cookies, then sprinkle with dessicated coconut.

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FESTIVE FRUIT SALAD WITH HONEY YOGHURT:

MAKES: 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium punnet strawberries, cleaned and halved/quartered.
• 1 pineapple, peeled and cut into neat, bitesize portions.
• 4 kiwi fruit, peeled, then halved lengthways, then sliced
• 1 bunch red / black grapes, washed and halved
• 1 bunch green grapes, washed and halved
• 1 small punnet blueberries, washed.
• Half a pear.
• 1 large tub Greek yoghurt
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon

UTENSILS:

• Sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Small serving bowl
• Serving platter
• Tbsp
• Tsp

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Prepare a nice, flat serving platter.
• Make sure the fruit is clean and neatly cut up.
• Arrange as you like on the platter, I made a big peacock just for fun.
• Mix the Greek yoghurt with a tsp cinnamon and a Tbsp pure honey. You could opt for a sweetener here instead if you prefer.

TO SERVE:

• Drizzle the remaining Tbsp honey over the yoghurt.
• Serve both the fruit platter and the yoghurt chilled.